Citroen S1 Hot and Cold Slider Switch Problem

Post by **Rhothgar** » 18 Dec 2010, 15:26

Hi Jim

Thanks for the photo and continued information.

Mark's Lexia programme is running on an IBM ThinkPad and not as the unit your picture shows.

He has some kind of power problem to his laptop. I think is the DC connector so I am stripping that down this afternoon to effect repair.

Next problem is he does not have the 30 pin connector for that and even the Snap-On Scanner that I have only has 16 pin.

Would you happen to know which pinouts do what on the 30 pin? As I can probably use jumpers to 'hard' wire it into the 30 pin by using a 16 pin connector and paperclips or wire.

Post by **CitroJim** » 18 Dec 2010, 16:45

Mark must have a Lexia3, the laptop based one. Mine in the picture is an older Lexia2 which is a dedicated machine. Sorry, I was making an assumption Mark's was too, hence the DIMM advice on the blank screen.

The Lexia2 and 3 leads are very different unfortunately and my 30 pin lead ends in a 37 way D type so the pinouts won't help you very much.

I believe there are 30 pin to 16 pin adapters available for the Lexia3. Some members on here will have these adapters so maybe someone can 'buzz' one out and see.

I'd caution very greatly about trying to make temporary connections to the 30 pin diagnostic socket. Shorts, wrong connections and the like are very likely to cause damage either to your ECUs or to Mark's Lexia.

The other problem with the 30 pin socket is that there are no designations as to how the pins are numbered on the socket. Even my matching plug has no designations...

Sorry

I can be of little further help on the adapter. Hopefully someone soon will be along with the pinouts...

If you do try though, be very careful on how you wire it up...

Post by **Rhothgar** » 18 Dec 2010, 17:35

Great advice there Jim. Thank you.

Mark does have a Lexia 3. The DIMM does not appear to be the problem as is well well seated. I think the cable to the screen is chaffing through gradullay because the screen is intermittent and works at some angles from time to time.

It sounds as though the pinout bridging that I want to do is not really a sound idea. I am in a rush to try to get this sorted and that's good when fiddly things are required.

I wonder if any of the members on the forum have the right cable live in Notts or close to?

I will take a look through your list of members who have Lexia machines and perhaps PM them.

Meanwhile, I'll strip Mark's Thinkpad down.

Post by **Rhothgar** » 18 Dec 2010, 19:02

The cabin temp sensor is not spinning.

Shining light down I can see three 'arms' and I think the blades must sit behind them as it seems to be just a moulding perhaps for the axis of end of the blade shaft?

No spinning for sure. I have moved fan speed control to see if I can see blades stopping or starting but nothing is apparent.

Is it too late to give it some WD40 as a temp measure (excuse the pun)?

Post by **CitroJim** » 18 Dec 2010, 19:16

The fan runs all the time the ignition is on. A good way of checking it is spinning is to observe with the ignition initially off and to keep watching as you turn the ignition on, looking for something changing and spinning deep in the depths of the thing. Sometimes the fan stops because of a lump of debris jamming the blades. Give it blow out with an airline at low pressure or one of these aerosol duster cans.

WD40 is far too aggressive to use to try lubricating it. It is likely to destroy it. Instead, try some electronics contact/switch cleaner. This stuff is intended for lubricating crackly volume controls and noisy switches. It's gentle and effective. Maplins sell it.

This may only be a short-term fix and for a good, long-term fix you may
carefully (very carefully) dismantle the sensor and then lubricate the fan shaft properly. It's not an easy unit to get apart and not easy to extract from where it is either.

Basically, you need to remove the steering wheel, remove the RH switch panel, remove the radio surround and then after prising out the face-level vent grilles you can then remove the panel containing the clock and sensor. beware the clock wires are not very generous and the little clock plug is delicate.

The sensor is wired to two big plugs ion the side of the face vent housing.

Once all disconnected, the sensor can be disassembled by gently easing the clips that hold it together and easing it apart. be careful not to damage or disturb the blue blob at the very front of the sensor. This s a thermistor and the bit that actually does the sensing. The fan is well in the back of the sensor and the blades are actually part of the motor. It rotates on a fixed shaft. Pull the blade assembly off the shaft, clean it and lubricate it.

Post by **xantia_v6** » 18 Dec 2010, 19:18

As its an S1, you should be able to get the sensor unit out with just a bit of skill and some cursing. Carefully remove the clock (gentle leverage with screwdriver), then through the clock hole, you should be able to push out the temperature sensor assembly for closer inspection. Maybe you would get some improvement in operation by just leaving the sensor itself hanging out of the dash?

Post by **CitroJim** » 18 Dec 2010, 19:22

xantia_v6 wrote:As its an S1, you should be able to get the sensor unit out with just a bit of skill and some cursing.

That's a good idea Mike

A lot easier than removing half the dash to get at it and a better position to spray some switch cleaner into it as well. It's also easier to see if the fan is spinning...

It won't come out very far though due to the length of the leads on it.

Now if only you could reach and manipulate the connectors through the clock aperture

Post by **xantia_v6** » 18 Dec 2010, 19:40

CitroJim wrote:
It won't come out very far though due to the length of the leads on it.

Now if only you could reach and manipulate the connectors through the clock aperture

I seem to remember that you actually can (but it is about 5 years, so the memory is hazy

)

Post by **Rhothgar** » 18 Dec 2010, 23:14

Interesting! I'll nip down to Maplins tomorrow and get some proper cleaner.

Not sure if there is a connection here but my dash clock always reverts to 0:00am everytime the ignition is switched off. Is there maybe a connection or perhaps a general supply / ECU fault?

Post by **Rhothgar** » 19 Dec 2010, 09:59

xantia_v6 wrote:Carefully remove the clock (gentle leverage with screwdriver

Thanks xantia_v6. Does it need prising from any particular direction? Are there any clips / tabs that secure it?

Post by **xantia_v6** » 19 Dec 2010, 10:10

RogDodge wrote:
xantia_v6 wrote:Carefully remove the clock (gentle leverage with screwdriver
Thanks xantia_v6. Does it need prising from any particular direction? Are there any clips / tabs that secure it?

The clock comes straight out, so just apply leverage where there will be no visible damage. The sensor unit has strong tabs, which maybe need to be depressed a little to allow it out.

imperial21 · Post by **imperial21** » 19 Dec 2010, 10:25

Just out of interest do you not have the heater fan resistor on mk1 xantias than when it fails it only works in the fastess setting ?
if any help i have a mk1 xantia being stripped for parts and i have tested the heater all works fine in it

Post by **Rhothgar** » 19 Dec 2010, 11:25

imperial21 wrote:if any help i have a mk1 Xantia being stripped for parts

I'll bear this in mind.

Post by **Rhothgar** » 19 Dec 2010, 17:48

xantia_v6 wrote:The clock comes straight out, so just apply leverage where there will be no visible damage. The sensor unit has strong tabs, which maybe need to be depressed a little to allow it out.

Mmmmm! The Clock was the easy bit.

Managed to separate the front grill from its housing and bent quite a bit of plastic - all now repaired.

Once the clock was extracted, I could clearly see that the fan was spinning.

I bought some switch cleaner. It does smell very potent.

OK. So I have the cab temp sensor separated from the front grill / LED housing but cannot get the sensor out to service it.

There are 3 wires (2 white and 1 red from memory) holding the cab temp sensor in. Do these have a connector behind the high level vents as I have tried to remove it but failed and obviously do not want to go damaging cables by using force.

Sorry to be asking so many questions.

One job leads to another.

I am now reasonably satisfied that the fan had stopped spinning prior to me spraying some air down it the other week as today it started making a racket again.

I gave it judicious amounts of switch cleaner whilst it was running (against the advice on the tin not to use on live electrical components - presumably this refers to 240V only!!!)

Therefore, the temperature adjustment seems to now be working.

As a matter of interest, does the operation of the cab temp sensor affect the running of the fan control slider as the Auto now seems to be working whereas I could swear it wasn't previously.

Is there anything I can clean the thermistor with or does ANY kind of contact with anything render it useless?

Another job I would like to do is change one of the bulbs behind the fan control and the temperature slider. I have stripped it all done whilst I was in the area but cannot work out how the bulb comes out.

It looks like a festoon type bulb which should simply pull out but it doesn't seem to be budging. Again, I do not wish to apply excessive force.

And finally, the recirculation switch went a bit awry in the cold weather last week. It doesn't want to slide fully to the left or right which may suggest that the cable stretched.

I cannot seem to pull the unit out very far and was wondering if this is easy to remove and put back together.

I have the sliders off and the clear acrylic which somehow spreads the light from the bulb across the whole width of the controls - Amazing bit of design there!

Am now struggling to see how to access the cables. I cannot be far off but it is pretty dark now.

When I was trying to remove the cabin temp sensor, I have inadvertently gouged the fascia plastic immediately above the sensor. Is this easily replaceable?

Many many thanks so far for everyone's assistance. This forum truly is an amazing resource and it is warming to know that there are a lot of Xantia fans and lovers out there.

Most people seem to have a problem with Citroen which in a way is great because it means enthusiasts like ourselves are never at risk of not being able to find a cheap run-around which has the best suspension in the world - it far outclasses every car I have driven.

Post by **admiral51** » 19 Dec 2010, 18:09

The bulbs for the heater/slider panel are not the push fit types,they come complete with holders

Im sure Jim will post the link to the website for the bulbs but here is a basic explanation of how to get at them

If you remove the radio/heater surround (screws hidden where ashtray is

) and then the radio you can then undo the 4 screws that hold the heater assembly in place.If you remove the top black cover you should be able to see roughly inline with the off position for the fan a connector with 2 wires attatched.This is plugged into the bracket holding both bulbs.You may have to fiddly around with the position of the heat/positional sliders to allow removal of said bracket

Refitting is the .....................

Colin